Leaders in the making – 2009 – September 3rd “Learning to lead Effective Schools” Meeting Observations: Power Bases –
community meetings have two leading teachers
developing protocols
other people pushing their own agendas – managing this by focusing back on developing a protocol
general staff meeting – rotating chair person
Influencing Tactics –
issues based around what groups they participate in – PLT unit / The Pontificator / time user
Ignored behaviour –
sometimes time management can impede on other staff agendas
underhand behaviour – such as friendship groups, hidden agendas
not expertise to the knowledge of what is being discussed
Having a common goal with a core focus sticking to a time limit with opportunities to address for the following up next meeting and knowledge of what is being discussed/ shared – being able to allow for the priorities to shift and allow for the best approach to manage this. Qualities of effective leaders - Shared Understandings: Common KnowledgeBe aware of Communication Core focus Time – Protocols – Rules of engagementBe aware of Monopolisers Sharing Priorities – flexibility in leaderships Flexibility in the style of leadership is crucial Constructive – positive – passionateBe Aware of Negatives OwnershipBe Aware of Personal Agendas Tactic - Acknowledgment of views Activity: Being under pressure – using a time bomb list as many qualities of a leader. OrganisationSupportivePositive Confident FriendlinessStrategicEncouragingLearner ApproachableCalmKnowledgeablePurposeful RespectfulCommunicationShared/Team work oriented The structure of a meeting can shift – flexibility in leaders is important – depending on what is trying to be achieved.
It is more important to remember that the focus is always – student centred and not teacher centred Leadership - always remember the word learning – as a leader you’re a learner always learning. Reflective Leadership: Difficult Situations and Behaviours: Do not prejudge people when describing difficult people – it’s the behaviour that is the issue. This document is a guide to see a trend over a period of time. What are some of the strategies to address this?: establishing a protocol. Separating the emotion behind the challenged behaviour and maintain calm. Focus on the behaviour. – How do you make the person aware of it when they are not and don’t wish to be? How do we not offend when we still have to work with that person the next day? Finding the balance between being honest and being careful? Communication that leadership team know and that we can move on. When protocols are established – we need to discuss what happens when protocols are broken? What happens when someone doesn’t adhere to the protocol what do you do?? – Ideas to deal with this: talk about the group to respond to the individual, it is agreed that a nominated person would say at every meeting that they would say – 2 positives things that happened in the meeting and two negative things that happened with a reminder of the behaviour and not a personal attack. Don’t go down to the swamp – watch the conservatives and monitor the high achievers. A culture of complaining: How do we encourage staff to attend meetings when there is a culture of ‘complaint’ – look at the meeting structure, establishing protocol and reminding expectation e.g.: local agreement says... SCHOOL MUST HAVE CLEAR SHARED BELIEFS – Goals! – Now that this is in place – how do we achieve this? – Take a big breath and take time.
Leadership modelling
professionalism
Accountability
Organised agenda
Looking at the structures
Goals – focus on children – how can we improve things
Having a formal meetings scheduled is also important - and decide not to have it.
Cultures take time.
Staff Morale – Put in staff book – DFM day – ‘Day for Me’ – lighter load day.
Emotional Intelligence: Strong organisation is the by product –Daniel Goleman says that you cannot have the 4th key – Social Skills unless you have all other 3 in place. ‘The capacity for recognising our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves, and in our relationships’
Self Awareness: To be emotionally self aware – do you know your boiling points and exploding points? Know where you’re at, at that point in time. Aware of ourselves. Accurately assess ourselves. Do I like myself?
Social Awareness: Do we have empathy? Organisational awareness – understanding that organisational structure of the place of where you are at. Having a service focus.
Self Management: Do we have self control. Are we trustworthy. Are we adaptable. Are we conscientious. Do we have a high achievement focus. Do we show initiative. Adaptable.
Social Skills: Developing others. Leadership. Influencer. Strong communication skills. Being able to change. Cope with change and Mange with change. Managing conflict. Teamwork. Building bonds, connections, networks.
Emotional Intelligence and Principled Negotiations: Buying time to think about your response – let me have some time to think about this? 3 styles of negotiation:
Soft position – easy out – more appealing position
Hard Position – sometimes this is a way to go – but in general to have a negotiated position
Principled position – negotiated – you may need to buy time. – with this you always get more background information about the issue at hand.
Finding the equilibrium – putting the positives to one side and the negatives to the other and find a balance. If someone comes in with an idea / complaint – then also bring in a solution. Communication – conversations– don’t finish off other peoples conversations. Conversations should be curious: the more that you invite to tell you more about it allows for more invitation to bring it out more by curious conversations - instead of saying why? Say – tell me more about it? Contemporary leadership models: Effective and ineffective delegator:
Make sure you choose the right person for the right job.
Encourages always
Reflection always helps us to determine which way we will move next.
Leadership styles 3 in particular that we use:
Distributive – sharing responsibilities – empowering other people in an organisation/team to share the leadership to be accountable and responsible with what they are doing – always been given a role that your empowered with trust and there is accountability.(Pages 161 – 162 of Developing Leadership Book.)
Transformational – bringing about change in the way we look at an organisation. – Developing vision and goals, individual support, culture, structure, performance and expectation, intellectual stimulation – professional development.(Pages 142 – 143 of Developing Leadership Book.)
Instructional – using learning walks with protocols, analysing performance and what is good practice, to also find some common language.
Key thing: people observe classes but make NO JUDGEMENTS. Definition: “The rounds process is an explicit practice that is designed to bring discussions of instruction directly into the process of school improvement. By practice, we mean something quite specific. We mean a set of protocols and processes for observing, analysing, discussing, and understanding instruction that can be used to improve student learning at scale.” (Elmore et al 2009) Other Leadership styles: Situational – how you see things in terms of competencies and capabilities. – refer to the Hersey- Blanchard Model Transformational leadership – using seven factors related to this model. Post – transformational Reflections:
How did the team or staff move?
What did the leader do to influence the staff?
What did the leader not do?
Why did the leader act the way they did?
What would you try to change?
Wondering: What does Professionalism look like in a school with the 3 leadership models?
“Learning to lead Effective Schools”
Meeting Observations:
Power Bases –
- community meetings have two leading teachers
- developing protocols
- other people pushing their own agendas – managing this by focusing back on developing a protocol
- general staff meeting – rotating chair person
Influencing Tactics –- issues based around what groups they participate in – PLT unit / The Pontificator / time user
Ignored behaviour –Having a common goal with a core focus sticking to a time limit with opportunities to address for the following up next meeting and knowledge of what is being discussed/ shared – being able to allow for the priorities to shift and allow for the best approach to manage this.
Qualities of effective leaders - Shared Understandings:
Common Knowledge Be aware of Communication
Core focus
Time – Protocols – Rules of engagement Be aware of Monopolisers
Sharing
Priorities – flexibility in leaderships
Flexibility in the style of leadership is crucial
Constructive – positive – passionate Be Aware of Negatives
Ownership Be Aware of Personal Agendas
Tactic - Acknowledgment of views
Activity:
Being under pressure – using a time bomb list as many qualities of a leader.
Organisation Supportive Positive Confident
Friendliness Strategic Encouraging Learner
Approachable Calm Knowledgeable Purposeful
Respectful Communication Shared/Team work oriented
The structure of a meeting can shift – flexibility in leaders is important – depending on what is trying to be achieved.
It is more important to remember that the focus is always – student centred and not teacher centred
Leadership - always remember the word learning – as a leader you’re a learner always learning.
Reflective Leadership:
Difficult Situations and Behaviours:
Do not prejudge people when describing difficult people – it’s the behaviour that is the issue. This document is a guide to see a trend over a period of time.
What are some of the strategies to address this?: establishing a protocol.
Separating the emotion behind the challenged behaviour and maintain calm.
Focus on the behaviour. – How do you make the person aware of it when they are not and don’t wish to be?
How do we not offend when we still have to work with that person the next day?
Finding the balance between being honest and being careful?
Communication that leadership team know and that we can move on.
When protocols are established – we need to discuss what happens when protocols are broken? What happens when someone doesn’t adhere to the protocol what do you do?? – Ideas to deal with this: talk about the group to respond to the individual, it is agreed that a nominated person would say at every meeting that they would say – 2 positives things that happened in the meeting and two negative things that happened with a reminder of the behaviour and not a personal attack.
Don’t go down to the swamp – watch the conservatives and monitor the high achievers.
A culture of complaining:
How do we encourage staff to attend meetings when there is a culture of ‘complaint’ – look at the meeting structure, establishing protocol and reminding expectation e.g.: local agreement says...
SCHOOL MUST HAVE CLEAR SHARED BELIEFS – Goals! – Now that this is in place – how do we achieve this? – Take a big breath and take time.
Emotional Intelligence:
Strong organisation is the by product –Daniel Goleman says that you cannot have the 4th key – Social Skills unless you have all other 3 in place.
‘The capacity for recognising our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves, and in our relationships’
Emotional Intelligence and Principled Negotiations:
Buying time to think about your response – let me have some time to think about this?
3 styles of negotiation:
- Soft position – easy out – more appealing position
- Hard Position – sometimes this is a way to go – but in general to have a negotiated position
- Principled position – negotiated – you may need to buy time. – with this you always get more background information about the issue at hand.
Finding the equilibrium – putting the positives to one side and the negatives to the other and find a balance.If someone comes in with an idea / complaint – then also bring in a solution.
Communication – conversations– don’t finish off other peoples conversations.
Conversations should be curious: the more that you invite to tell you more about it allows for more invitation to bring it out more by curious conversations - instead of saying why? Say – tell me more about it?
Contemporary leadership models:
Effective and ineffective delegator:
Leadership styles
3 in particular that we use:
- Distributive – sharing responsibilities – empowering other people in an organisation/team to share the leadership to be accountable and responsible with what they are doing – always been given a role that your empowered with trust and there is accountability.(Pages 161 – 162 of Developing Leadership Book.)
- Transformational – bringing about change in the way we look at an organisation. – Developing vision and goals, individual support, culture, structure, performance and expectation, intellectual stimulation – professional development.(Pages 142 – 143 of Developing Leadership Book.)
- Instructional – using learning walks with protocols, analysing performance and what is good practice, to also find some common language.
Key thing: people observe classes but make NO JUDGEMENTS.Definition: “The rounds process is an explicit practice that is designed to bring discussions of instruction directly into the process of school improvement. By practice, we mean something quite specific. We mean a set of protocols and processes for observing, analysing, discussing, and understanding instruction that can be used to improve student learning at scale.” (Elmore et al 2009)
Other Leadership styles:
Situational – how you see things in terms of competencies and capabilities. – refer to the Hersey- Blanchard Model
Transformational leadership – using seven factors related to this model.
Post – transformational
Reflections:
Wondering:
What does Professionalism look like in a school with the 3 leadership models?